Okay, I need to preface this review by saying I thoroughly read the reviews before buying, and thought "how are could a lamp actually be to assemble...it's a LAMP." Well...I'm here to tell you that this is unreasonably difficult. It's not because there are a lot of steps or pieces, it's because of how it's made. One, each piece is pretty heavy but the base is EXTREMELY heavy and you have to hold it in the air in the perfect position while you use a socket wrench to bolt it to the pole. It's a pain. Two, it requires extreme precision. If you mess up one cord placement or bolting or anything, you basically have to do it over. I'm giving it four stars because once it's actually assembled, it's absolutely beautiful. So...beauty knows no pain I guess?